Peter Aziz Weighs in on Groundbreaking Prepaid Card Case

Counsel and payments and cards expert Peter Aziz was sought by PaymentsCompliance to comment on an ongoing case that raises questions around the intersection of federal and provincial regulation in the prepaid cards space. Below is an excerpt of the article.

Peter Aziz, counsel at Torys LLP in Toronto, said there is a grey area around whether federally regulated entities have to comply with the patchwork of provincial prepaid cardrules in addition to federal requirements.

“If you look at the wording of the provincial prepaid statutes, and you look at them technically, the legislation is ambiguous around network branded prepaid providers - so it is not clear if the rules apply,” Aziz told PaymentsCompliance.

“What’s interesting is that a number of provincial regulators have indicated on their website very clearly that the provincial prepaid rules are not intended to apply to open loop cards or to prepaid cards issued by banks.”